Local Government Elections and the Government’s attempt to prevent it.
(The Morning 12-03-2023)
- Treasury Secy.’s absence at EC meeting criticised, EC asked for fresh date
- Secy. Siriwardana outlines four issues regarding attending EC’s meeting
- EC informed by Treasury Secy. that letter on funds passed on to Minister
- Dolawatte raises privileges issue against SC, Speaker requested to inquire
The Election Commission (EC) last week decided on 25 April as the new date to conduct the Local Government (LG) Polls, in keeping with the Supreme Court’s recent and related order following a meeting with Government Printer Gangani Liyanage, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandana D. Wickramaratne, and other relevant authorities, at which Secretary to the Treasury and Finance Ministry Mahinda Siriwardana was absent.
Election Commission Chairman Nimal G. Punchihewa has told the media last week: “We cannot wait until the Treasury releases funds. The Supreme Court order tells the Treasury to release funds. We have asked for funds and if they are not given, we can report it to the Supreme Court. Siriwardana didn’t attend last Tuesday (7). He has informed via a letter that he has to attend a security-related meeting. He has asked for another date to meet.”
He has further said that the new dates had been fixed in consideration of postal voting and the main voting which should be scheduled in a specific time period. The postal voting for the postponed Local Government Elections is likely to be held from 28-31 March. Punchihewa had said that steps were being taken to conduct the postal voting for the polls on the new date.
Opposition legislators had also met members of the Election Commission on Tuesday, during which they had emphasised holding the Local Government Polls as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa had alleged in Parliament on Tuesday that the Government had purposely prevented the meeting with the Finance Ministry Secretary and the Election Commission scheduled for that morning to discuss the financial matters concerning the holding of Local Government Elections.
According to Premadasa, the Government had prevented the scheduled meeting claiming that there was a National Security Council (NSC) meeting. The Opposition Leader had questioned how a NSC meeting had been held when the President, the Prime Minister, and the Defence Minister were in the Chamber.
Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena had however refuted the allegation by saying that the President had come to Parliament after the NSC meeting as he [the Prime Minister] had informed the President he would not attend the meeting.
The letter
Meanwhile, highly-placed sources disputed claims made in Parliament that the Finance Secretary did not attend a meeting with the Election Commission due to a NSC meeting.
Accordingly, it is learnt that a letter was sent to the Election Commission by the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance requesting a later date to meet. In the letter, the Treasury Secretary had highlighted four key points as to why he would be unable to attend the meeting.
1) The Treasury Secretary had not received the determination from the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning prior to the scheduled meeting.
2) Upon receiving the determination from the Supreme Court, the Secretary had stated that he would need to discuss the determination with the Attorney General.
3) Prior to attending the meeting, the Secretary to the Treasury had stated that he would have to discuss the matter with the Minister in Charge.
4) It was also mentioned that a previously scheduled Security Council meeting was to be held at the same time as the meeting called for by the Election Commission.
Therefore, it seems that the Finance/Treasury Secretary had outlined four issues regarding attending the meeting, and had requested a fresh date.
This issue had given way once again for concerns as to how the Election Commission hopes to hold the Local Government Elections on the new date without having first consulted the Treasury Secretary.
Meanwhile, Government Printer Gangani Liyanage stated that she had written to the Treasury on Wednesday (8) to release the remaining funds of more than Rs. 300 million to recommence the activities of ballot paper printing for the upcoming Local Government Polls and had forwarded a written request to IGP Wickramaratne requesting the provision of adequate security for the same.
Letter to RW
Finance/Treasury Secretary Siriwardana has also informed the Election Commission that the letter sent to him by the commission requesting the allocation of funds to hold the Local Government Elections has been forwarded to the Finance Minister.
Siriwardana has made this observation in a written response to the Election Commission following the letter sent by the commission to the Treasury Secretary last Tuesday. It is learnt that the Treasury Secretary has informed the Election Commission that his (Siriwardana’s) approval alone would not be sufficient to allocate funds for polls given the current situation in the country. Hence, the Election Commission’s letter seeking funds to hold the polls is now with President Wickremesinghe, who is also the Finance Minister.
Controversy over Judiciary
However, the drama over the holding of Local Government Elections last week resulted in a governing party legislator alleging that the Supreme Court had violated parliamentary privileges through a recent directive given in relation to a case on the holding of the much-discussed Local Government Elections.
SLPP MP Premnath C. Dolawatte had said that Parliament was empowered to act in instances of violation of its powers and privileges as per Article 4 (c) of the Constitution. He had told the House on Tuesday (7) that a point of privilege had arisen from the injunction SC (FC) No. 69/2023 issued on 3 March.
Quoting from the Constitution, Dolawatte had noted in detail that Parliament had financial control of the State. An injunction issued by a panel of Supreme Court judges had attempted to nullify the non-violable powers vested in Parliament and in breach of a principle of natural justice, the MP had noted.
According to Dolawatte, the matter of the Local Government Elections is an affair of Parliament with a proposal already in the agenda to form a select committee, and the judges have disregarded that despite it being noted by the Attorney General. He had further observed that the court had disregarded an affidavit submitted by the Finance Secretary about a lack of funding, which was a violation of traditions that would lead to anarchy of the Judiciary.
Dolawatte had said the Minister in Charge of the subject of Finance was responsible to Parliament, which controls public finance, and that the Interim Order by the Supreme Court attempted to prevent the implementation of these laws and made the control of public finance by Parliament a nullity.
He had also stated that the interim order sought to give effect to the Activity Budget Estimates for 2023, which was not a law nor a legal document, but a summary of the Appropriation Bill for 2023 to assist Parliament during the debate.
However, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe had also stated last week that the Speaker had agreed to an inquiry into the violation of parliamentary privileges due to the interim order issued by the Supreme Court pertaining to the Local Government Elections.
Semasinghe had said on Friday (10) that the matter had been accepted by the Speaker and had been presented to the Parliamentary Committee on Ethics and Privileges. “It is a serious offence to implement the interim order by the Supreme Court before hearing the said matter and taking a decision,” he had said.
The State Minister had further said that by tabling the letter by the Chairman of the National Election Commission on the matter, he had requested the Deputy Speaker to refer the matter to the Parliamentary Committee on Ethics and Privileges to conduct an inquiry. Semasinghe had also requested the Deputy Speaker to advise all relevant authorities not to take action on the said matter until the Parliamentary Committee on Ethics and Privileges concluded its inquiry on the said matter.
A heated argument had then broken out between the ruling party MPs and the Opposition over Semasinghe’s statement.
Opposition Leader Premadasa had also accused the Government of attempting to postpone the Local Government Elections by pressurising the Judiciary, which had given a clear verdict to conduct the election.
Demanding polls
In the run-up to last week’s episode on pushing for Local Government Polls, Opposition parties – the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), National People’s Power (NPP), Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC), Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA), and breakaway factions of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) – had jointly written to the Election Commission on Sunday (5), demanding that the Local Government Elections be held on or before 19 March, fulfilling the undertaking given to the Supreme Court by the Election Commission.
The letter sent by the Opposition parties addressed to Commission Chairman Punchihewa and its members stated: “Now that the SC has removed the only impediment to holding the election according to law, it is your imperative duty to conduct the said election on or before 19 March 2023. We do not see any reason why you should consult the Secretary to the Treasury or anyone else, now that they are bound to comply with the interim order issued by the SC as aforesaid. We, therefore, request you to re-fix the date of the LG Elections to a date before 20 March 2023 as required by law or the earliest possible date without any further delay. You should not prevaricate on the pretext of consultation with anyone.”
The letter further noted: “We write consequent to the order of the SC made on 3 March 2023, in SC FR 69/2023 restraining the Minister of Finance, the Secretary to the Treasury, and others from withholding necessary funds for the conduct of the LG Elections that was scheduled to be held on 9 March 2023. The court has also made a further order to the Government Printer with respect to the printing of ballot papers. You gave an undertaking in SC Writ 6/2023 and SC Writ 7/2023 that you will hold the said elections according to law. You are aware that according to law, the said elections should be held on or before 19 March 2023. When the Secretary to the Treasury and the Government Printer did not cooperate with you, you filed a motion in the aforesaid two cases seeking the court’s direction on them.”
The NPP meanwhile has requested the Election Commission to take necessary measures immediately with regard to the Local Government Elections based on the Supreme Court verdict and fix an early date for the election.
NPP Secretary Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe in a letter to the Election Commission has stated that the Supreme Court in its verdict has observed that conducting the LG Polls is a fundamental human right considering the importance of the said election.